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She-Wolf I Page 3


  “Wait,” she ordered as I was about to leave. It surprised me to hear such a strong intonation in her voice.

  “Do you need anything else?” I asked softly stroking her hair.

  “Listen Madelyne, you have to leave this place,” she whispered so low I barely heard it.

  “What? Grandma…”

  “You have to,” she interrupted. “Your life shall not be miserable. You are the daughter of two mighty alphas. This pack is destroying your life and you should not waste it. You deserve happiness and you will not find it here. You are old enough to leave.” I shook my head in surprise. Had she gone senile overnight? I knew all of those things, and it felt good to have her phrase my dreams, but they were mere utopias.

  “I can’t leave you here. If I were to go, they’ll use you to get back at me and I refuse to let that happen.”

  “And I refuse to watch my granddaughter be enslaved!” she nearly screamed. “My days are numbered, and I will not wait around for death while the only family I have left is woeful. If you go and they kill me, at least I’ll die serenely.”

  I sighed. I got her point, but it was pointless to me. How could I leave her here? It was such a monstrous thing to do. It was an impossible choice to make. I kissed her forehead. “I’ll think about it, I promise”, I told her to cut the conversation off. “But I do have to leave now if I don’t want to be late for work.”

  “You’re still pigheaded I see,” she quipped with an angry glance before indicating the exit.

  “I love you” I said smiling.

  It warmed her heart. I exited her room before she suggested I start a revolution. All of this was just so complicated. How much longer would or could I bear this situation? Her words roamed my mind while I drove and weighed on my shoulders.

  When I arrived in the restaurant, my wolf bristled, and my heart skipped a beat. That scent… That scent was the whiff of this morning. Musty, bestial, powerful. And angry as well, there was anger in that singular scent, it was everywhere: the walls, the tablecloths, even the clients reeked of it. My eyes rummaged through the dining room. I was on the lookout, but there was no need to be. The hostile lycanthrope had already cleared off. If I ever found him, I’d kill him. Not because I had to, but because he was real stupid for sure. He must have known he was on a pack’s territory, and instead of running for his life, he was strolling about. What a numb-head. He better be gone by tomorrow because I wasn’t Mother Theresa and I was not going to keep quiet about him for much longer. I didn’t want any trouble, and I didn’t want that wolf to have any either, because he was not doing anything wrong per se, but my indulgence was wearing thin.

  I got down to work and I was even more unfocused than this morning. Clemencia was not here yet, so I quickly opened all the windows and I sprayed some vanilla-scented perfume I found in the restroom to cover the foreign wolf’s whiff. It was not the brightest thing to do in a restaurant full of customers, but I was out of ideas.

  After a dozen complaints, the manager warned me that if I sprayed some more, I’d get fired. I stopped and hoped Clemencia would not notice that smell. Even though it was growing weaker every minute, it was still discernible for a lycanthrope. When Clemencia arrived, she frowned her nose but sneezed immediately after because the vanilla clogged up her sense of smell. She gave me a questioning look and I merely shrugged, but I was mentally overjoyed and congratulated myself for this bright idea.

  I finally finished my shift four hours later, and I craved going to sleep. Yep, werewolves needed to sleep, it was not just for humans. But I had to let my wolf-self have a little fun, I had pushed her away quite a lot today. Before going back home, I would often go into the woods and run as a wolf until exhaustion. I was blamed for it on the following morning, but it was totally worth it. If I kept pushing the wolf away, I’d go insane, and I needed to expel this rage inside of me, the one I had piled up throughout the day.

  “Good night Clemencia, kiss Colin goodnight for me!” I said leaving the restaurant.

  “Maddie, wait!” She came trotting towards me. “Maybe you shouldn’t go out tonight, I mean with everything that happened today…”

  Her genuine concern was touching. I put my hand on her arm and accompanied her to her car. “Don’t worry about me. Go find your son, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She tilted her head; I could see she was not quite relaxed. I felt her worrying in my mind and all around me, so I tried to reassure her with a smile. Something was wrong. Clemencia was not used to lecture me or stick her nose in my business. She looked down and rapidly got into her car as if she was ashamed. What had she done? I trusted her, she could not have let me down somehow. But maybe she knew something, and she was hiding it from me. Maybe it was her way of telling me there was something fishy going on. She started the car and I watched her leave suspiciously. My room could have been wrecked, or my stuff burned, but they had already done it before, so I didn’t really care for what I’d discover had happened on my way back to the village.

  I got into my precious car and left the city. I could not run in my wolf form on our territory, they’d come find me and punish me, but on vampire territory by the neighboring city, there was nothing they could do. That is why William kept punishing me, my exiting the territory made him powerless and he couldn’t stand it. He was weak and I was smarter.

  I turned on the radio to have my thoughts drowned in music and hummed the pop songs coming out of the stereo. There was nothing more efficient for me than music and the concentration driving required to put aside a day’s worries. No need to get worked up over it. Staying in the Parker pack taught me to live from day to day, from hour to hour even. Whatever happens, happens and I’ll find out when I come back.

  Half-an-hour later, I was finally there, and parked my car at the edge of the woods. A running shadow suddenly brushed past me, and I was immediately strained, only to relax a second later as I recognized Amy, a vampire I was acquainted with and who would not cause a problem. She stopped, I waved, she smiled, and disappeared into the trees. I was next.

  I undressed and left my clothes in the car and transformed in a second. Brown fur spread on my thickening skin. My limbs changed and my muscle’s size increased. My nose became a muzzle. My senses’ capacity reached its highest point. It was like stretching after a long nap. My human form had always felt skimpier than my lupine form, and as a wolf, colors were brighter, smells more striking, sounds more overwhelming. My reflexes were as good as those of a predator, made to hunt, track, trail, run. The wind on my body was thrilling. The calm and serene night was protecting me, and the countless shining stars were showing me the way into the forest. It was drizzling, and the raindrops fell gently on my fur like tiny and comforting strokes.

  My legs were stiff after having spent the day trapped in humanity: I stretched and started scampering. It felt amazing so I ran faster. My ears were flattened on my head and my eyes explored the darkness. I ran until I was out of breath for an hour or two, rolling in the grass, rubbing myself against the trees, catching the voles that unfortunately crossed my path. The night was my playground, it was the only time I could have my fun. My bond with the pack was cut off, we weren’t actually allowed to sever the link with the others, but I mean, how annoying was it to have other people in your head watching your every move? The night was mine only.

  But right now, someone got in the way of my fun, and I growled annoyingly. I had spotted her ten minutes ago, roaming about close by, but I wanted her to make the first move. “Oh come on, don’t wind up, I’ve let you have fun long enough!”

  She sprang up from behind a tree, as usual. She had that angelic look – five-foot-tall, blond hair, deep blue eyes, Snow-White like skin – and she was far from stirring up trouble wherever she went. Yet Bridget was a vampire, and we’ve been friends for two years. I shook myself and sent flying all the water drops that had remained in my fur. I advanced, towering at least two feet over her and pressed my head against her cheek. Sh
e cursed and winced back. I knew she hated it and that’s why I kept doing it every time we met. “You burr!” she shouted.

  I stuck my tongue out, and she pounced on me. We rolled in the forest grass, I gently hit her with my paws. She needed not fear – vampires were thick-skinned. Bridget might look like an angel, but she had reflexes nearly as quick as mine, and almost as much strength. And I lay stress on the almost part. She was grabbing my fur wherever she could and so I threw her away. As she was about to crush against a tree, she leaned on the bark to swirl and landed on her feet. Urgh. Vampires did have the unfortunate tendency to always land on their feet. Or on their teeth for that matter. I stood back up too and charged at her, but she started running. I had to admit it and be in good faith, those creatures were freaking fast. When we raced each other, Bridget would win often. Not always, because I hated losing and ran my ass off every time to beat her.

  “You won’t win tonight,” she taunted, smiling. I answered with a roar, and she laughed instead of being afraid.

  After ten minutes of a frantic race, I had to face facts: she’d won. I suddenly stopped and laid down on the damp soil waiting for her to come back. A gust of wind skimmed over me, and there she was. She sat next to me and started talking: she knew that my not transforming back into my human-self meant that I didn’t feel like talking. I liked listening though.

  “I had a great day! I went shopping with my friend Jack, and I bought another pair of shoes, you like ‘em?” She swung her legs and I noticed at the end of it some nice cream-colored heeled boots. I nodded to show I approved her choice – some people could afford buying pricey shoes and wear them off during a night-race with a wolf.

  “It sucks we can’t do anything together. I wish we could go shopping in the city someday. That’d be bad for my ego though, because with that body of yours, everything must fit you and I’d look like a mess.” Bridget sighed dramatically; it was amusing. I gave her a gentle headbutt on the shoulder to comfort her, but I was sad too. I longed to have lunch with her, to go to the movies or on a shopping spree, have some fun in a theme park, anything. There was so much to do around here, and maybe someday we would be able to do all that stuff.

  “Anyways, I bought tons of other things, we grabbed some ice-cream and then we went to a get-together with vampire people. One of my pals had made a blood punch, it tasted a-ma-zing.” Ew. Human blood was not really my thing. I’d sometimes kill voles, squirrels or rabbits because I was a wild animal whose primary instinct was to hunt, but blood-punch? No thank you. Even as a wolf, I could cringe, and on my doing so, Bridget’s tinkling laugh broke the silence like lightning struck the night.

  I envied her so badly. She had friends, she was surrounded by her loved ones and had more money than she could spend, but most importantly, she was free. We were exact opposites. She wasn’t truly aware of how lucky she was, but she had come to realize it since we’d met, and that was progress.

  She went on to tell me about the party she went to, and I listened carefully. It took my mind off things to hear her prattling. Her flow of words gradually ran dry and we remained quiet side by side gazing at the starry sky and its dancing clouds. Bridget was the closest person I had to a best friend and I thanked fortune every day for having sent her down my path. Her being never blue was like an endless breath of air, and her pretended angel face, her blazing spirit or even her spoiled rotten child facial expressions were pleasant.

  I eventually stood back up. I had no wish of going back home, all the more so I felt something was wrong within the pack, but I had no choice. We went together back to my car, near which I transformed back into my human self, put my clothes on and hugged Bridget. “Thank you for tonight. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I hope so too,” she answered, hugging me back. Hoping was a sort of ritual. We hoped to see each other again the following night, we hoped vampires and werewolves would stop hating each other, we hoped to lead a better life. It rounded up all of our own worries and desires. “Be careful,” Bridget whispered before she dashed off.

  It was time to go back. Those knots were still in my stomach, but I got into my car anyway and turned on the radio even though I did not feel like humming anymore.

  What was waiting for me at the village?

  Chapter 3

  When I parked, my car’s tires squealed on the wet gravel. Something felt wrong. I didn’t know what was happening, the main villa’s lights were turned on, and that only occurred on special occasions. Since it was almost 3 in the morning, it was definitely not a drawn-out family meal, but rather one of those important reunions which required all pack members’ presence.

  I was down in the dumps but still got out of my car. A yellow car, bright like the sun, bright like the light. You’re gonna be fine Maddie, you can do this. I was trying to cheer myself up, even though I hardly believed in my own words.

  I headed for the villa and it would not be long before I’d literally go into the light as well. Die, basically. My instincts were telling me not to go into that blinding house, that a tragedy was about to be staged. On top of it all, my skin was dirty, my clothes were wet, my make-up was ruined. I reeked of vampire in spite of my efforts to cover it up – I was far from embodying the perfection the pack expected of me. To sum it up, I was in a pretty pickle.

  I walked into the jam-packed living-room as if I were sentenced to death. All the wolves turned their heads towards me in a single synchronized and terrifying motion. A hundred eyes were staring at me, and funnily enough, it was quite disturbing. I gulped and caught Danny’s eye. He looked terrified, he was gesturing in a very weird way, and I interpreted those gestures as an attempt to get me to run away. Stuck between her parents, Lola was crying and shaking her head frantically. Colin had grabbed hold of his mother's leg, and Clemencia held him protectively. My grandmother was stone-faced, and the sight of her told me I was in trouble. Or more accurately, I was the trouble.

  I took a step back, but it was too late: I was surrounded. The pack had taken advantage of my bewilderment to prevent any attempt to escape. William now stood in front of me, his notorious vein ready to pop. For the first time I was truly afraid.

  The wolf yelped inside of me, and I tried to reassure her, but it was impossible given the fact that I was just as frightened. It was one thing to be a smartass in front of a single lycanthrope, but it was another to do so in front of fifty of them. My throat was closing up. There was nothing to be done. Whatever had to happen would happen, whether I was scared or not. I was not going to apologize for something I didn’t do, ask for forgiveness, or – worse! – beg for mercy. I raised my head proudly and stood up to William’s stare. My fear faded away. Fear arouses fear anyway, I might as well do without and suck it up.

  “It’s rather late, Madelyne,” he said, coming closer. “Where were you?”

  “I was running,” I answered truthfully. He slapped my face. My head nearly spun round, but I didn’t flinch. His look was furious but also seemed sorry for me. I kept on staring at him. My cheek was hurting. I ignored the pain. We were used to each other. She’d become my long-life faithful friend.

  “I asked you where you were, not what you were doing. Answer the question.”

  “I was on vampire territory.” I was screwed anyway, so what the hell?

  Shocked and horrified hiccups rang out all around the room. How pathetic. As if they didn’t know I hung out with other species, even though that was why they all hated me for! What a bunch of hypocrites. William’s back faced me as he started pacing the room in circles while talking. “She confessed! Is it acceptable for any pack member to meet with vampires and show their face back here? And let’s not forget that Madelyne here, has failed to let us know an intruder entered our city today. Isn’t that right?

  Holy crap. How did he know that? Wait a second. What if it had all been a test? A trick to show how worthy of staying in the pack I was? Who was this stranger whose scent had left its mark on me? Was it one of William’s minion�
��s I didn’t know? Whether it was a test or not, I failed anyway, and he knew that. Everybody knew. Lying was useless. “That’s right,” I said calmly.

  “Of course I’m right. That she-wolf lies, disobeys and conspires behind our backs. Are we going to accept it?!”

  All the wolves apart from my grandmother and my friends yelled an enraged “NO!”. I shook my head; I couldn’t believe it. That was preposterous. I had never hurt anyone in my life, and everyone was turning against me without apparent reason. Where was justice in all this? Even though there was no love lost between me and them, I suffered from their rejection. I mean, I did see it coming sometime in the future, but not because of some lame pretext. But I should have known better. I’ve had my fill of it. If they’d decided it should come to this, then so be it. William came back right in front of me, and I didn’t move a muscle.

  “Madelyne Carson, you are a danger to this pack. As its alpha, I, William Parker, demand either your faithful and unconditional loyalty or your immediate banishment. Magnanimous as I am, the choice is yours.” My faithful and unconditional loyalty? In English, it meant servitude. As if I wasn’t a slave already! This was a nightmare from which I could never awaken. Would this finally come to an end? Banishment was not an option, first because I still wouldn’t let my grandma behind with those cuckoos in spite of her encouraging me to do so, and second because I’d never find another pack: banished wolves were frowned upon. Ironically enough, staying here was a matter of life or death. I had no choice, otherwise I would have left a long time ago. What should I do?